A Dark Knight over China
by BobMalooga
Summary: Bat-Man goes to China to rescue the Protector


## Dark Knight over China 

### Part 3 of the Origin of the Protector

### By Keith A. Kilburn

"What do you know about the protector?" Batman asked Tim Drake after the name was mentioned to him, Tim couldn't help but notice that the dark knight hadn't turned from the computer screen to ask the question. Tim knew that he was loosing ground quickly with Batman and that if he didn't make a bold move quickly Batman would be lost in whatever he was working on and any hope of getting him to help find Jason Hart would be long gone. 

"I know who he is and I know that Dick trained him....I think I know where he might be, but I need your help to find him." Tim replied. 

Batman stopped typing and slowly turned to face Tim now and a cold chill ran up the teen wonders spine as the dark knight moved. 

"Continue." Was all Batman said as he looked at Tim now and listened to the teenagers story, Tim related how he had accidently found the Protectors file in the Batcomputer and how Dick had told him how the Jason hart and the former Robin had meet before Dick had become Nightwing. Tim then told Batman about how he had gone to Metropolis to seek out Roy Harper to hear about the last time that Roy and Jason hart had worked together....he also told Batman about General Zghan Chow. 

"I know all of this Tim...Oliver Queen and Roy Harper talked about it and I made inquiries to Oliver about Roy's part in Jason Hart's disappearance...What makes you think that he is still alive?" Batman asked as he turned back to his work at the computer, Tim Bristled slightly with anger before calming himself enough to speak. 

"General Chow kept prisoners...Prisoners that were released after twenty three years of imprisonment...For trying to stop his drug trade." Pausing as Batman looked back at him, Tim then continued as he now had the dark knights full attention. "If someone who had just destroyed your multi-million dollar drug trade was found in the jungle almost dead by your troops...wouldn't you want to keep him alive long enough to kill him yourself?" 

"Tim...that's speculation...I have to deal with the Joker and Mad-hatter dueling to prove who the best serial killer in Gotham City." Batman said and then turned back to the computer screen and then spoke again. "I don't have time to fly off to China on speculation...I'm sorry." 

Tim stood in stunned silence, the Batcave seemed to close in on him as his anger grew and finally he spoke in a way that perhaps he shouldn't have. 

"Speculation? Speculation?" Tim asked angry now. "All of Detective work that isn't supported by facts is mere speculation...How come everyone has given up on Jason Hart? I know you care about him...He got a scholarship from the Wayne Foundation to go to law school at GSU...You kept a file on him long after he disappeared..." Tim stopped speaking when Batman turned in his chair to look at him. 

"I never gave up on him Tim...I knew that if Dick trained him then he must be fit for the job...The Scholarship was a way to get Jason Hart out of a life that ended up causing his disappearance and as to the File...I have one on Bette Kane to." Batman said his voice tight, low and raspy like Clint Eastwood. 

Here it comes Tim thought as he envisioned himself being grounded from being Robin for a month over this whole blow up. 

Instead there was silence and that was scarier. 

"What makes you so interested in Jason Hart...Other then the fact that he was trained by Dick?" Batman asked looking back to the computer again, Tim shifted uneasily before speaking again...this time making sure to keep his voice calm and level. "This is gonna sound silly...But it is sort of like finding out I have a brother I never knew I had. I know about You and Dick and Jason Todd." Pausing Tim looked at the Trophy case, failing to notice that Batman did as well, and then continued. "I know about Barb, Huntress, Bette, Spoiler and Azrael...But Jason Hart is almost like a Robin, because Dick trained him and that makes him different from everyone else." Tim concluded and then stood silent. 

"If I got Nightwing to come to Gotham do you think that you could help him with the Mad-hatter and Joker?" Batman asked finally without looking at Tim, to stunned to speak Tim simply nodded and then finally managed to utter. "Um sure." 

"Then you need to tell Alfred that I'm going to China on business." Batman said as he saved the datafile and forwarded it to Nightwing with an encrypted message Via Oracle, Tim bolted for the mansion entrance before Batman could change his mind. 

The Flight from Gotham City to China's capital Beijing by way of Los Angeles and Hawaii and Japan lasted far to long for Bruce Wayne's taste. During the eighteen hour flight Bruce had time to review information on General Chow that Oracle had accumulated for him from the CIA's extensive files on him and the more Bruce read the more he wish he had gotten involved long ago. 

Some interesting clues to Jason's possible whereabouts did surface though. The CIA evidently liked to know where Chow might be hiding his prisoners...In the event that they might want one of them back and need to send in an extraction team. 

Given the location of the heroin warehouse that was burnt to the ground (Which was in the CIA files) Bruce calculated what Jason's land movement rate would have been in the semi-dense jungle and within that diameter he was able to figure out the general area in which Jason and Cheshire fought Bruce then roughly calculated the probable level of toxicity in the young vigilantes blood stream and the length of time it would take to move him and stabilize him to prevent death. 

They would need a hospital for this Bruce thought and then rescanned the CIA list and found the hospital in question. 

The hospital was small by American standards but with General Chows influence it could have been molded into whatever he might have need for....and it was only five miles from the burnt down warehouse. 

Bruce meditated in the time he had left before landing in Beijing... 

Beijing was unusually cold for this time of year Bruce noted as he stepped off the plane, the Chinese minister of trade was there to meet him as he exited the plane. Bruce was glad to see that there was no red carpet or marching band this time. Bruce wanted a nice, quiet entrance to China. "Mister Wayne, it is a pleasure to see you again...I was surprised by your sudden visit...If I maybe so bold...What brings you to Beijing?" Xao Chan asked as he walked along with Bruce towards the Terminal, smiling and using his hand to gesture Bruce replied. "Well...for sometime I have been interested in placing a LARGE Waynecorp factory in China, It will be of a Medicinal nature of course...I'm not sure of all the details as of yet...I usually leave such things to my advisors...But I was hoping to scout the local countryside for somewhere to place the factory...IF of course you grant me the proper permits...?" 

"Mister Wayne, as you know Lexcorp has a vast hold in the current Chinese marketplace...However it has recently come to my attention that there are those in power who...shall we say...Don't like Mister Luthor and wouldn't loose to much sleep over one or two of his factory's closing." Xao said as they walked through the terminal, Bruce smiled at the thought of Lex Luthor loosing money . "Well then If you can show me to my Limo I will get checked into my Hotel and begin my rounds." Bruce finally said, his smile fading like the last visages of sunlight at dusk. Xao had a bagboy grab the billionaire's bags and then lead them both to the Limo. 

Bruce checked into the Beijing Hilton and unpacked his bags. Bruce showered and redressed with the Batman suit underneath his business suit, calling down to the front desk he requested a limo be ready for him in fifteen minutes. 

From a secret compartment in one of his bags Bruce produced a passport for Jason Hart, He hoped that Tim's suspicions were right and that Jason was alive. Packing a small bag of clothes for Jason in the event that he did find him, Bruce left his hotel room and made his way down to the lobby. 

* * *

As Bruce Wayne began to make his way to the Hospital Jason Hart had been held in, Jason ran like a madman through the alleyway, he could hear the heavy slapping of multiple feet behind him and he knew that if he stopped even for a second that they...his pursuers would be on him like white on rice. He had been living on the streets for over three days now and food was scarce when you had hired henchmen trying to recapture you. 

Jason had almost made it to the American Embassy but Chow's Henchmen were waiting for him and almost succeeded in recapturing the young vigilante at the buildings doorsteps, the Marine guards had no real idea what was going on and no reason to help the young man. Jason fled and had been running ever since. 

Jason thought about his Mom and Dad and what they would say when he finally made it home...If he made it home at all, he thought about what his sister looked like after all this time and whether or not she had went on to become a Registered Nurse rather then stay an L.P.N. and finally he thought of Carrie Radcliffe. 

Carrie had been the girlfriend he had wanted to marry, they had talked of engagement...He had even bought the ring, it wasn't extravagant but it was nice...She was supposed to go off to Keystone city's art college...Jason wondered if she had waited or if she had moved on with her life. 

Pushing the thoughts from his mind Jason ducked into a small doorway and pressed himself into the shadows as far as he could. The rain, which had been only a drizzle mere moments before began to pour down from the heavens above in buckets. Shivering from the cold and rain Jason Hart watched as his pursuers raced past the doorway and into the open street at the end of the alleyway. 

Chances are they would double back and re-search the alley, but Jason was willing to take that chance. Looking down at his socked feet Jason began to realize that he needed clothing and shoes fast or the elements would kill him before he made it back to the states. Darting from his hiding place Jason moved down the alleyway back the way he came and along the street. 

This is worse then trying to find a costume shop in Blue Valley, Nebraska Jason thought to himself thinking back to when he had decided to "become" a costumed vigilante. Knowing that he had no Identification and no money and certainly couldn't speak the language Jason realized that he was probably going to have to steal the shoes and clothing. 

Something that didn't sit really well with him at all. 

"Next time I let Roy drag me off on some damn idealistic fools crusade overseas...Ill make sure to speak the language first." Jason muttered to himself shivering in the rain, the sun was setting and some of the smaller shops were closing for the night, he watched as the shop keepers locked up and left in the rain. 

Wandering around to the back of the nearest shop Jason found the backdoor and hoped that the Police in China were as slow as they were in Gotham and Metropolis. Taking off his shirt Jason wrapped it around his hand and walked up to the back door, making sure to glance around one more time Jason put his wrapped fist through the shops back door window and cleared as much of the glass as possible before unlocking the backdoor and letting himself in. 

It felt wrong, it felt dirty and had he not been desperate Jason would never had done it. 

Moving quickly Jason found some clothes that would fit him and changed into them out of his soaked clothing, he ripped open a package of socks and put a dry pair on. Up until this very moment Jason never realized how much he missed dry socks. It took more then a few minutes to find a pair of shoes that would fit him, Jason almost gave up when he stumbled upon a pair that did. Lacing them up Jason tied them and began the search for a coat of some type when he saw the flashing of blue lights and realized that he taken to much time looking around. 

Slowly Jason crept to the front window and looked outside, he saw the police officers get out of their car, one began to talk on the radio as the other moved toward the alleyway. 

"Not looking good for the visiting team." Jason muttered as he made his way to the back of the store, glancing to one side he spotted a black sweet jacket and snatched it off the rack and through it on before sliding into the stockroom and towards the backdoor. 

Grabbing the jacket had cost him time. 

As Jason neared the backdoor he could hear the Officer as he radioed his partner, Jason couldn't understand what was being said but he gathered it wasn't going to go well for him if he was caught in the store. Sliding back into the shadows Jason waited the tense few minutes it took before both Police officers slowly made their way into the store. The first cop was young and wiry and he probably give Jason a serious run for his money in a race, the second looked like a Chinese version of "Curley" from the Three Stooges, he probably had trouble lifting himself from the seat of his cruiser when it came time to go home. 

Glancing around Jason spied a small hunk of wood, which was probably used as a door stop, bending over he picked it up and waited until the Officers weren't looking towards the small doorway which lead to the front of the store. When their attention was diverted from that doorway he hurled the doorstop as hard as he could down that small hallway. 

"Krack" came the sound of broken glass and both officers turned back towards that doorway and then looked at one another before speaking in low whispery tones, before suddenly rushing forward into the store. 

As they moved into the store Jason bolted out the backdoor and down the alleyway, pulling the hood up onto his head Jason paused only long enough to try to remember what the name of the store was before he made his way down the street. 

"I'll send him some money for the repairs and the clothes when I get back to the states." Jason said as he rounded the corner thinking himself to be scott free. 

Not twenty-five feet from where he stood Jason saw the small mob of Henchmen that had hounded him huddling under an awning, turning quickly he hoped that they wouldn't see him and no sooner had that thought crossed his mind did he hear one of them yell and the heavy slapping of multiple feet began behind him again. 

* * *

Bruce Wayne's limo pulled up in front of the small hospital where Jason Hart had been kept mere days before, Bruce waited until the Limo driver opened his door and the drizzle of rain blew in onto the billionaire as he stepped from the car and put his trenchcoat on. Glancing up he noticed that window that had been boarded up in haste and the flagpole cord that hadn't been repaired. Casting his glance towards the plants in front of the hospital Bruce noticed Broken glass but didn't bother to go into the rain to inspect it, turning back towards the hospital entrance he stalked towards it and merely uttered these words to his provided driver. 

"Wait here for me." 

His tone didn't invite debate. 

Opening the front door Bruce sauntered in as if he owned the place, he had the confidence and air of a billionaire and was quick to stare anyone down who might try to raise an objection as to why he was there. 

"I want to speak to the Hospital administrator...NOW!" Bruce said as he neared the Nurses station, the young nurse looked him puzzled. When she told him in Mandarin that she didn't speak English he repeated the command in Mandarin for her benefit. 

She didn't have to be told a second time, racing from her chair she moved down the hall quickly towards the administrators office. Bruce watched her move and then slide behind the nurses station counter and thumbed through the patient charts, Finding Jason's chart wasn't that difficult as his picture was in the folder, he was listed as "John Lee", which happen to be the Chinese equivalent of "John Doe". Pulling the file from the clipboard Bruce secreted it upon his person and then stepped out from behind the Nurses station counter and to its corner as the Hospital administrator and the nurse arrived. 

"What can I do for you sir?" The administrator asked in Mandarin, Bruce whirled on the man and fixed him with a glance before replying. "I must speak to you in private...It is Urgent." Bruce replied in haste and then looked around to make sure no one was listening, acting as though this whole matter was of the gravest of emergencies. "I see..." Mr. Wein said as he looked at Bruce's suit and bearing and realized that he spoke to a man of considerable money, turning back towards the way he came the hospital administrator lead Bruce Wayne back to his office. 

Once inside the office Mr. Wein sat behind his desk and offered Bruce a chair before speaking again. "What is this all about?" Mr. Wein asked looking at Bruce with all seriousness, Bruce took off his raincoat and sat with his leg crossed before answering. "My name is Bruce Wayne, I'm looking to make contributions to enhance the smaller hospitals in this area...For me it would be a tax break internationally...I was wondering if you could take a few minutes to discuss your facilities with me?" Considering the American for a few seconds Mr. Wein took a serious tone and then replied. "Honestly Mr. Wayne...I couldn't in good conscience discuss the hospital or its practices with you...It would be a break of trust between me and the local populace....However..." The entire time Mr. Wein had been talking he had been gesturing with his hand and when he came to the end of his comment his hand was left looking for something to hold in it. 

Bruce got the hint. 

Taking his wallet form its inner pocket, Bruce produced two bills and placed them onto the administrators hand and a smiled appeared on the mans face. 

"For that amount of money I expect to be able to drop the pretenses and ask you the questions I want to." Bruce said, dropping the playboy facade and adopting a far more serious tone, leaving his chair mister Wein fixed himself something to drink and returned before lighting a Cigar and finally nodding at Bruce to ask his questions. "Tell me about the twenty-one year old that leapt from the window in the front of the hospital and used the flagpole to slow his descent?" Bruce asked. 

Mr. Wein's eyes narrowed and then he replied. 

"He was brought here a little over three years ago in a coma, his condition at the time was critical and it was believed that he wouldn't survive due to the poisons in his bloodstream, evidently it was some sort of variation on Anaconda venom...Fairly lethal under normal circumstances but examination of the scratches lead me to believe he didn't receive a full dose from whatever this attack might have come from. The boy languished in the coma for almost two years before regaining consciousness." Mr. Wein paused to shift in his chair uncomfortably before speaking again. "I'm going to assume that the next part of this conversation will remain between you and I and that in fact you are not with Interpol." 

Bruce nodded curtly listening intently to the administrator. 

"I was hired by General Chow for the purpose of running this hospital...I was told to keep the boy alive and to revive him if possible. The General gained a certain amount of pleasure from...shall we say...Personally questioning his prisoners. With the General dead I was left with something of a dilemma...The boy had no identification so I couldn't contact anyone concerning his being here after his revival. On top of that he refused to give his name. He was quite and kept to himself, pushing himself back to almost full health by the time he escaped." Mr. Wein said with a wry smile, glancing up at Mr. Wayne the administrator realized that the man wasn't smiling at all and was looking at his as though he were a bug about to be squashed. 

"I should warn you...The head of security here is fanatically loyal to General Chow even now...He and a few of his men are searching for the boy, chances are that if he finds him...Django will likely kill him to keep him silent and further protect the Generals name." Mr. Wein warned as Bruce Wayne got up from his chair and left the hospital. 

Jason would be on the run and outnumbered he would have to find clothes and shelter, returning to the limo Bruce pulled his cel phone from his pocket and made sure that the dividing window was up before he placed a call to Oracle. 

"Hi there, how goes the search?" Barbara Gordon asked from her loft in Gotham city, she turned her chair back around and wheeled back to the computer station she had just left as Batman replied. "Jason is alive...or was up until few days ago...I have his medical record...I need you to run a search through Beijings law-enforcement databanks to see if there have been any reports of break-ins at clothing stores in the last seventy two hours and if anyone was caught in the break in's." Running the inquiry through two dozen different countries and relay stations before tapping Beijings Central Law-enforcement computer database. "Give me a few more seconds...Lots of net activity is slowing the search up." Barb said balancing a pencil in between her nose and upper lip, patiently she waited and then wished she had managed to get that coffee she had started off after. 

Stifling a yawn Barb snapped to attention when a window opened on her screen and listed the contents of her search translated from Chinese to English. 

"OK...what sort of radius are we working from?" Barb asked looking at the list, she heard Bruce's muffled voice over the phone as he told the driver to drive. "Cross check the addresses against UPS' shipping routes, they'll have the most recent and public maps available, Eliminate anything ten miles from the Kitamura veterans hospital on the list you gave me." Bruce paused as Barb hacked UPS' route database of Beijing and began to check against those listings, she eliminated three that involved hold-ups or daylight activities. 

"I got one that sounds like our boy....Happened about..." Barb paused gauging the time difference and then said. "an hour ago...Police report a breaking and entering of a small department store. no suspect but wet clothing was found in the store...They think it was an escaped inmate of some type and are checking the local prisons to see if anyone is missing." Bruce listened as Oracle gave him the street address and then said something she hadn't expected to hear. 

"Thanks." 

And then the connection went dead. 

The drive to the Department store didn't take long at all, traffic wasn't bad and the street had few pedestrians as the Limo cruised by the store. The Police were still there, their investigation would likely last another hour or two, Bruce wasn't going to bother with going into the store. It was likely that Jason had broke into the store and made off with some clothes. 

"Driver...You can let me out here...Its such a nice night...I'm going to walk for a while." Bruce said as he lowered the darkened glass partition, the drive pulled over to the curb before turning and offering his business card on it. "These aren't safe street's sir...The card has my pager number...You call me and Ill come pick you up." The driver said with a smile, Bruce smiled back...More at the thought that someone was worried for his safety on the streets of Beijing then anything else. 

"Sure Ill do that." Bruce said taking the Card and then exited the Limo and watched it pull away. 

Slipping back into the Shadows of a nearby alleyway Bruce Wayne, playboy billionaire, disappeared and in his place stood Batman, the grim Dark Knight of Gotham City. 

* * *

Jason Hart ran as fast as he could down the street with the small mob of pursuers behind him, he knew with a dark certainty that things were going to end badly for him...Somehow he knew that for a fact as he took the corner faster then he wanted, nearly running over an elderly couple. "Sorry." Jason cried as he continued running. 

He now had a pain in his side from keeping up this pace without food, water or rest for as long as he had. Jason stopped long enough to survey his surroundings before entering a small dinner. 

"Time to make a stand." He muttered to himself as he crossed the threshold of the Lu's Dinner. 

The six henchmen tore through the door after Jason and found him standing in the middle of the dinner, the cook looked over the counter at what was going on and having seen enough Tong activity in his seventy five years of life ducked down behind the counter hoping this would all end quickly and that his dinner wouldn't be torn into little itty bitty pieces. 

"I'm not going back to the Hospital with you." Jason said defiantly, not knowing if any of the small crowd spoke English, as he took a defensive posture. "You're not going to have to worry about that...Were not here to take you back to the Hospital...We are here to finish what Cheshire started three and a half years ago." Tu Ming responded with an evil smile. 

"Let the people in the Diner go...their not involved." Jason replied the sound of his voice came out as a plea instead of sounding confident. 

"They'll die along with you...They have seen to much." Tu said as a Waitress screamed in horror, turning and running into the back of the Dinner. 

Tu dispatched one of his men to deal with those in the back and watched in amusement as Jason spun into a round house kick and planted his foot firmly into the mans back sending the thug sprawling to the floor in a heap. "Run" Jason yelled to the staff of the Dinner as Tu and his men descended on him. A flurry of blows rained down onto Jason, who blocked and parried as best he could after what he had been through the last three days and in the condition he was in. 

A punch connected with the side of his face and pain erupted as the left side of his head seemed to explode from the blow, caught off guard from the pain a kick to the gut caused him to loose his breath and sent Jason sprawling to the floor like the Thug who had preceded him. 

This is it, he thought as heavier blows slammed into him pinning him to the floor in pain, I'm gonna die in China. 

Tu watched in amusement as his men beat the boy mercilessly, he chuckled enjoying the site of his men at work and would have joined in on the beating if a Vise like grip hadn't taken ahold of his neck from behind and applied pressure. 

"Tell them to release the boy now...." The dark and raspy voice said as the dinner was plunged into darkness, Tu's Henchmen looked around as he barely managed to speak. "Let the boy go...." Glancing at their leader they saw something move in the darkness behind Tu, something that clearly wasn't human. 

It had White eyes and Demons wings and when it spoke its voice was like Fingernails across a chalkboard. 

"Back away from the boy...NOW." The bat-demon said as he lifted Tu off the ground by the back of his neck, Tu lost consciousness from the lack of oxygen and was hurled at his friends. Not taking the time to collect their leader the small band of thugs launched into an attack moving in on the Bat-demon quickly. 

A high kick to the chest sent the first thug to reach Batman to the floor hard and fast as the second one manage to throw a punch his arm was caught and he was spun clockwise sending him over the nearby counter and to the floor beyond it. Batman caught the third thugs leg as he preformed a flawless high kick and struck the henchmen in the testicles hard enough to incapacitate him. 

Mei pulled a pistol as he neared the Bat-demon and aimed it at the creatures symbol of power on his chest, its clawed hands moved like lightning and wrapped around his wrist and hand using Aikido to fold them back on one another and disarm the thug with a great amount of pain. "You put your faith in the wrong thing..." Came the raspy voice from the Bat-demon as an open hand strike slammed into Mei's throat sending him to the floor and straight into unconsciousness. 

Turning away from the unconscious thug Batman moved over to Jason. Jason regained conscience long enough to look up and see a giant bat descending down on him before the darkness reclaimed him. 

* * *

The light. 

Jason was blinded by the light as his eyes opened and he realized that he was in a hotel room and that his wounds had been dressed. Looking around Jason realized that Bruce Wayne was sitting in on a dresser several feet away staring at him. "You do remember who I am...Don't you?" Bruce asked as Jason suddenly tried to sit up and winced from the pain in his side. "Um...Yes I do....Where are we?" Jason asked suddenly again looking around trying to figure out if he was in Wayne Manor or not. 

"Beijing Hilton." Bruce replied as he handed Jason his passport and a bag with some clean clothes. "A friend of mine in the American embassy was able to clear your passport, our plane leaves as soon as your ready to go Jason." Bruce said getting up off the dresser and making his way towards the door, Bruce stopped as Jason spoke. 

"Thanks Bruce....I don't know how I would have made it home without you." Jason said as he looked at his passport, Bruce stood with his back to the young vigilante for a few seconds before turning and simply replying. "Don't thank me...Thank Tim Drake when you get back to the states...He's the one who did all the legwork on this case." 

And with that Bruce left Jason's room. 

Moving from the bed Jason made his way to the bathroom and the shower. 

He was ready to go home. 

* * *

"I don't know what I'm going to tell my parents about all of this..." Jason said as he watched Metropolis International get bigger and bigger from the window of the learjet, turning back towards Bruce Jason started to thank him again but was cut off as Bruce offered a suggestion. "How about the truth? That you had become something more then an ordinary person, that you had done something to help your cousin Ted and from that went on to make a difference...But that along the way you had gotten hurt. The truth is a great thing Jason and they deserve to know what happen to you and where you have been for almost four years." 

"Your right...I cant lie to them about what happen to me." Jason replied with a nod and then added. "Of course certain details will be left out...I wont put you or Dick in any danger." 

Bruce nodded as the plane touched down onto the runway and taxied to a stop. 

"I appreciate that, I'm sure you'll come up with something suitable to tell them on that matter. I took the liberty of Calling your parents from Beijing to let them know you were coming home today, I even sent Alfred to Metropolis to pick them up." Bruce said as the engines whined down to a low hum, he looked over at Jason and then added. "Tim probably skipped school to meet you, Something I don't approve of ordinarily...But I guess I cant let it go once." 

Jason smiled as the Pilot and co-pilot emerged from the Cockpit and the entrance hatch was open. Following Bruce out of the plane Jason emerged onto the tarmac and was greeted by his family. 

"MOM...DAD....STACY" Jason yelled as he rushed to hug his family, Bruce watched as the Harts were reunited with their missing son and brother. Looking past his parents and sister Jason saw a teenager talking with Bruce and knew that he had a debt to repay. "I'm going to tell you everything....But I have to go thank Someone...Ill be right back." Jason said looking at his family hugging them once more before he walked away and over to the teenager, they watched as he approached the young man. 

"You must be Tim Drake." Jason hart said as he walked up to Bruce and the young man, Tim turned and smiled at Jason before answering. "Yes I am...It's cool to finally get to meet you Jason...I've heard a lot about you from Dick and Roy." Tim said offering his hand in friendship, Jason ignored the hand and Hugged Tim before replying in a choked voice. 

"Thanks for everything Tim...Without you I wouldn't be here now." Tim hugged Jason back and smiled as Jason backed away looking at him. "I look forward to getting to work with you someday Tim." Jason said as he shook hands with Bruce once more and then went back to his family. 

Bruce and Tim watched Jason walk off with his family. 

THE END 


End file.
